Sunday, November 2, 2008

In for a Penny . . .

Personally, I’m on the Return to the Roots bandwagon, with one hitch: Why stop with Griffey?

Why not make a play for potential Arizona Diamondbacks free agent Randy Johnson? Despite his age (45) and injuries related to chronic back problems, Johnson’s 2008 pitching statistics virtually mirrored those of the Mariners staff ace Felix Hernandez . . .

. . . If Griffey and Johnson are reunited, it’d make sense to pursue Giants shortstop Omar Vizquel. A borderline Hall of Famer, Vizquel leads active players in hits (2,657) and at-bats (9,745). A fan favorite who left the Mariners on the best of terms, he still makes his home in Issaquah.

Speaking of former Mariners – more specifically, former Mariners farmhands – Boston’s Jason Varitek, 36, recently filed for free agency. His batting average took a plunge to .220 last season, but that’s in the same neighborhood as the Mariners’ Kenji Johjima and Jeff Clement, who both hit .227. And no Seattle pitcher would dare grouse about Varitek’s ability to handle a staff.

And the thing is: with the exception of Bouton, I'm not sure that any of those guys wouldn't be better than whatever the 2008 Mariners ran out in their place. Hell, I'm not even sure about Bouton. Miguel Batista and Carlos Silva had ERAs north of 6 this season, and R.A. Dickey could probably use a knuckleballing mentor.

4 comments:

What has happened to those Mariners??? They seem stuck in the Phillies rut of the late '80s and mid-'90s. It can only go up . . . unless they resign Griffey, Johnson, Vizquel, etc., and sputter somewhere between medicrity and putridity for a decade . . .

It's nice for us law students, who are stuck in libraries and studies, to have the Shyster out and about on Sundays as we toil away, to take our minds off work, MPREs and the like, and help us procrastinate . . .

Here's to a few broken legs and other maming injuries to Cragi's body during the offseason!

If they go into 65 win intentional rebuilding mode, then attendance would drop significantly. Bring these guys back for a transition year, setting up the team for a 2010 run at the AL West. Gotta do it while Ichiro, Felix, and Putz are still playing well.